(JWR) ---- (http://www.jewishworldreview.com)
ONLY A U.S. PRESIDENT who knows more about making love than war would declare the puny
and ineffective one-sided assault on the former Yugoslavia to be a victory. By any objective
standard, the goals of Serbian leader Slobodan Milosevic, not of NATO and the United
States, have been achieved.

Even while negotiations seem to be faltering, why shouldn't Milosevic and his Russian
enablers now declare they are ready to accept NATO's "peace plan''? Milosevic's stated
goal of ethnically cleansing Kosovo is virtually complete, abetted by NATO bombers. It is
unlikely that substantial numbers of Kosovars will return to their original homes, if they are still
standing, to live amid the mass graves of relatives and friends.

Milosevic remains in power, even though he is an indicted war criminal. He may feel
empowered to conduct more ethnic cleansing against other groups of people he doesn't like.
The Serbs have been resisting those they view as interlopers for 600 years and aren't about
to stop now because an impeached president of the United States (who was also declared in
contempt of court) says they should.

Anyone with a sense of history longer than the instant replay must surely know the folly of
President Clinton's goals to battle evil and hatred between peoples who don't like each other.
He might as well declare war on original sin from which all curses flow. In 1941 Adolf Hitler
committed more than 30 divisions to the region, including the armored vehicles and the elite
Waffen SS. After four years, the Nazis were forced to withdraw, suffering more than half a
million casualties. Only President Clinton and a historically challenged American public would
accept the fiction that we have "won'' the "war'' against such a battle-hardened people.

Serb nationalists regard Kosovo as land that once, and still, belongs to them. They point to
American support of Israel and ask why the United States thinks it is acceptable for Jews to
return to a homeland after nearly 2,000 years, yet we oppose the right of Serbs to return to
Kosovo and the driving out of people they see as occupiers. It is not necessary to agree with
this thinking, but it does deserve a response.

When nations involve themselves in madness, the condition can become contagious. Vietnam
was madness. So is our affair in the Balkans. The Turks tried to subdue the region for 500
years and were finally expelled. The Austro-Hungarians lost their empire when they tried to
replace the Turks. The Nazis crawled out on a trail of blood. What makes us think that a little
war-on-the-cheap with no ground troops and no casualties on our side, other than a few
accidental deaths, is going to succeed when much more committed nations failed?

In these modern times, feelings eclipse facts. The administration and NATO will congratulate
themselves, even as many conservative commentators are in full-throated praise. Someone
will nominate Bill Clinton for the Nobel Peace Prize to ensure his "legacy.'' Al Gore won't
have this foreign policy albatross restricting the reinvention of himself. And the aging hippies
can gather around a summer bonfire and sing, "All we were saying was give peace a
chance.''

We have not defeated evil or hatred in the Balkans. It will come back, as it always has.
President Clinton can't be trusted on this, and he has no credibility on anything else. That's
because if the man didn't have bad character he would have no character at all. As the late
and liberal Washington Post editorial page editor Meg Greenfield wrote just before the
House impeachment: "On the big test, the test of presidential credibility, he's lost.'' Character
influences all human action. If one has good character, even mistakes can be reconciled to
good motives. But if one's character is bad, every action is reduced to doubts and
second-guessing because one can never be sure if that person's motives are good or if there
is a hidden agenda.

When the president's approval ratings started to fall, the "peace with honor'' option kicked
in. The bombing mission may be ending, but NATO and the United States aren't the victors.
Slobodan Milosevic
is.